Dental tooth regulating and retaining appliance.



EDWARD E. ANGLE, QF LONDON',v CONNECTICUT.

DENTAL TOOTH REGULATING AND RETAINING AIPPLIAICE.l

Specication o1 Letters Patent.

Application vlef'l March 12, 1910, Serial No. 548,822. Renewed August 18, 1911. lSerial No. 644,890.

To @Il 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD H. ANGLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at New London, in the county of .New London and .State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dental Tooth,v Regulatingand Retaining Appliances; and'I do hereby declare the folowing to be a ullclear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in orthodontia appliances or dental tooth regulating and retalning appliances of the class comprising anchor members, a delivery -member in the form of an arch having ex? tensible connection with said anchor memto said anchor members. l Usually one appliance is employed for until they Abers and adjusting nuts for projecting or distending said deliverymember in respect regulatmg or restoring malposed teeth to their proper. position, and a separate ap` pliance employed for retaining the teeth have become firmly established in their new position.

-The object of' my invention is to provide y a combined regulating and retaining appliance,or an appliance by means of which the teeth may first be moved and then supported vin their corrected relation with the I 4vlin'e'of occlusion, at the same time exerting a' very gentle but constant force labially on the roots of the corrected teeth, thus greatly editing thel treatment of malocclusion cit er by shortening the period of retention or by reducing the' number of visits from the patient to the Orthodontists.,

Another object of my invention is to render the regulating appliance more comfortable for `rather less objectionable to the patient.

With these and other objects inA view my invention consists of the appliances indicated in the accompanying drawings, describedin the following specification and pointed out in the claims at the conclusion 'of said specification.

In said drawings Figure I is a plan view fof a regulating appliance of the typeto which my improvements are applicable shown` as mounted upon a human dental arch. Fig. II is a plan view of my improved retent-ion arch-bar in its simplest form detached from the teeth. Fig. ,III is a front view 'of the middle portion thereof.

Fig. IV is a similar `view showing said arch connected to the teeth. Fig. V are enlarged views of the band tubes for receiving the spurs of the retention arch. Figs. VI, VII, VIII and IX are views in longitudinal section on an enlarged scale showing differ;

ent forms ofdetachable connections betweenl the middle segment and end sections of the Fig. X is a front view on an enarch showing adjustable spurs.. Fig. XI i's asectional view thereof. Fig. XII is a sct'ional view of an interlocking connection between the spur and tube.

An appliance of the class to which my invention is applicable, as indicated in Fig. I, comprises 'a curved or bowed delivery niember or arch-bar of approximately the same form as the human dental arch, to some of the teeth of which it is designed to be connected, and consisting of a middle segment l of strong elastic material, such as stiff spring wire, and externally threaded end sections 5, 5, in alinement with said middle segment and forming continuations thereof; anchor mem- Patented Jan. 9,1912.

bers consisting of tubes 2, 2, and bands 3, 3;

and adjusting nuts 6, 6, working yupon the threaded end sections of the arch bar and bearing against the ends of the respective anchor tubes 2.

The bands 3, 3, are designed to be securely attached to abutment or anchor teeth, such as the molars 4, 4, which are not -to be moved, but which maintain the anchor tubes in fixed position. The middle segment l is securely attached to the malposed teeth, which in this instance are the incisors 7, 7, by ligatures 8, 8. 'l` he middle segment 1 of the arch-bar is of the same or nearly the same diameter as the threaded end sections 5 and is .very stiH and capable of exerting considerable lateral or outward pressure when placed under tension.

nuts 6, 6. the arch-bar may be projected aid 10o By' suitably manipulating the adjusting tubes.

distended relatively to the fixed anchor The nuts mayl be turned and the arch-bar projected until suiiicient pressure has been brought to bear upon the malposed teeth and the appliance placed under suiticient tension for the time being. Repeated operations of this kind gradually restore tivelysmall diameter having little resiliencyA andcapable of exerting butslight pres- Sure.l Project-ing from said segment 10 are one or more Very delicate straight spurs 11 also ofv springvmaterial and extending directly ina line perpendicular to the plane of the arch. Bands 12 are fitted to the crowns o the incisor teeth 7, and to each band is secured-a verysm'all tube-13said tubes being parallel with each other. The 'spurs 11 are of a size and so positioned as to enter the tubes. 13, with the segment 10 resting upon the ncisal ends of the tubes.V V

In applying the retention device the bands 12 are rst applied to the teeth, the ends of the spurs gently Yinclined forward about three thirty-seconds of an inch by bending.,

and the arch .then replaced upon the teeth, the spurs being sprung into the tubes. Thus a gentle force from `the elasticity of the spurs and arch is given to the roots of the teeth in a labial direction, while the crowns are given stationary support in all directions. By bending the spurs outwardly from time to time the force of the appliance may be renewed, and to do this without removing i. the arch-barthe tubes 13 are cut away at 14 as indicated in Fig. V. `By. pressing the arch-bar slightly downward, the end s of the spurs may be bent with a suitable instrument inserted through the cut away -portion 14, 'and 4the spurs sprung back into position; Other advantages of my improved appliance will be apparent to those familiar with the art.

The delicate or light segment of the arch,

.able intervals a gentle and continuous regulating. force may be applied tothe teeth.

In this way an arch of eoeedingly small diameter closely hugging the teeth may be used, instead of a comparatively stiff and `larger diameter arch which necessarily stands out from the front teeth; the' ne-4 cessity of manipulating t-he nuts for applying tension to the arch is almost entirely dispensed with, and the number of visits yfromthe patient greatly reduced. It will be observed that. while the middle ing, respectively, I have for convenience and economy provlded a combmed appliance.

This combined appliance consists of the usual threaded end portions 5 of the arch` bar and the smooth or Unthreaded 'middle portion or segment having detachable connection with said end portions. By this means the middle segment of the arch when first applied to the teeth is of the usual heavy spring wire having the capacity of exerting considerable pressure upon the mal osed teeth, which are secured to the arc by means of ligatures 8. After the desirfl movement of the teeth .has been accon y plished, the arch is removed from the teeth and the delicate light spring middle section 10 provided with one or more spurs 11 substituted for the heavy regulating segment. The bands 12 having the tubes 13 are secured to the teeth in place of the ligatuies, and the arch thus altered is now reapplied to the teeth in the manner before indicated. The detachable connection between the middle segment and end pieces of the archbar may be of an)7 desired form. Fi s. VI, VII, VIII and IXindicate various." etachable connections. In Fig. VI the pointedv end 15 of the middle segment 10 enters a corresponding indentation in the end of the threaded portion the two being united b v middle segment is received within a plain socket 16* in the threaded portion 5 and the ,txvo united by solder. The connection indicated lin Fig. VIII is the same .as that of Fig. VII except that the end ofthe middle segment andthe socket of the threaded rtion are threaded. In Fig. IX the en of the middle segment is both pointed. and threaded and screws into a coiled threaded socket in the portion 5. The last two con-l nections may be soldered or no t, as preiic ist

ferred. B v means of this detachable construction the same anchor bands and tubes and the same threaded end sections of the arch-bar, as Well as the regulating nuts which have been employed for regulatmg the teeth, may also be employed as a reten- -tion device by the mere substitut-ionl of a retention segment for the regulating segment'.

` :"-Inother words. the entire regulating appliance, with the exception of the middle segment of the arch-bar, is usable as a retention appliance. In this Way the same adjustments or fittings for the one operation of appliances is gained.

section `which may In 'the appliance indicated in Figs. II, III and IV the spurs l1 are shown as rigidly-secured to the segment Wire 10, as by solder. For convenience in mounting, these spurs Imay be adjustably or slidably secured to the segment. The segment instead of being round in cross-section has an angular crossbe square or of any other desired form, such as half-round, as indicated in Figs. X and XI. The spurs l1 instead of being secured directly to the segment Wire 10 are secured to rings or slides 17 correspondingfin cross-section to thatof the segment and adapted to snugly tit thereon.

Thus, While the spurs arei'capable of ybeingshifted'along the arch segment as desired, they are incapable of being turned thereon,

but are held firmly in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the arch.

It maybe desirable onevennecessary at times to provide some means for prevent-ing accidental Withdrawal of the spurs from thetubes other than the mere. bending of the spurs as above indicated. A simple means of accomplishing this is indicated in Fig. XII. The spur 11 is bent 'to one'side and formed on'its extremity v'vitha hook or shoulder 18 adapted to catch under the tube 13 and thus securely hold.the spur in the tube. By forcing said hook toward the center of the tube the spur may readily be Withdrawn therefrom. v

I claim as my invention: j l. An arch-bar for dental tooth regulating appliances having-a middle -seglnent of spring material and externally threaded end sections, and a straight spur or spurs connected to said middle segment and extending directly in a line substantially perpendicular to the plane of said arch-bar.

2. An arch-bar for dental tooth regulating appliances having a middle segment of spring-material and externally threaded endsections, and a straight spur or spurs'conthereof.

l r nected to said middle segment and extending directly in a line substantially perpendicular to the plane oit' said arch-bar, said spur or spurs also heilig of spring material.

3. An arch-bar for dental tooth regulating appliances consisting of a middle segment of spring material and externally threaded end sections having detachable connection with said middle section. said end sections being in alinement with said middle section and forming continuations 4. An arch-bar for dental tooth regulating and retaining appliances consisting of a smooth solid middle segment and externally threaded end sections in alinement with said middle segment and forming continuations thereof, said middle section bel ing readily bendable and having but little resiliency and saidA end sections ,being-stift' and of relatively greater diameter.

5. A .n arch-bar for dental tooth regulating appliances having a smooth middle segment of spring material, a slide mounted on said smooth middle segment, means for preventing said slide from turning'thereon, a straight spur connected to said slide and extending directly in a line substantially per.

pendicular to Vthe plane of said arch-bar.

. 6. An arch-bar for dental tooth regulating appliances having a smooth middle segment of angular cross-section, a ring having a corresponding cross-section and adapted to be adjusted along but not turn on said segmentl and a spurprojecting from said ring in a'direction substantially perpendicular to the-plane of said arch-bar.

'JA' dental tooth regulating appliance comprising anchor members designed to be` xedly attached t0. molar teeth in the human mouth',v a delivery member consisting of anarch-bar having a middle segment ot' spring .materlal with spurs projecting therefrom.

bands adapted to be secured to teeth being restored to their normal or correct position. and tubes connected to Said bands' and adapted to receive the spurs projecting from said arch-bar.

8. A 'dental tooth regulating appliance comprisinganchor members designed to be fixedly attached to the molar teeth in the human mouth, .a delivery member consisting of an arch-bar having a middle segment of spring material with spurs projecting therefrom, bands adapted to be secured to teeth being restored to their normal or correct position, and tubes .connected to said bands and adaptedto receive the spurs projecting from said arch-bar, said vtubes being cut aivay at a point between their opposite ends.

-9. A dental tooth regulating appliance l comprising an arch-bar of spring material,

spurs projecting therefrom, bands adapted tofbe secured to teeth being restored to their normal or correct position, tubes connected 5`. 10.- dent-alfoot'h regulating band hv'- to ,sad"bands ond adapted tovreceiv'e the In testimony whereof I have axed my spurs projeotng flom vsaid arch-bar, and an signature in the presence of two Witnesses. 10 interlocking connectionbetween said spurs and'tufbesf. yEDWARD H. ANGLE.

" tube extending in a direction from-top. Witnesses:

b'ottomand cut/away at a point between JAMES H. CAssnnq Q p'poste ends;4 .WILLIAM BELCHER. 

